Abstract
Fan audience negotiations of remade special effects for older iterations of Doctor Who and Star Trek are analysed, examining the role and function of special effects as markers of ‘credibility’ in science fiction television, and the commercial implications of revising these to ensure continuing ‘novelty’ in long-running franchises. For both franchises, the revised special effects become a site of contestation between (fan-) producers and audiences, over who has the ‘right’ to determine what is authentic, canonical and credible about these particular telefantasy series.